Parochial League football shaken up by reconfiguration

The Catholic East seventh and eighth grade football team has started practicing for the new season. The team includes players from St. Joseph, Holy Rosary, St. John Vianney, St. Pius X and Sumner Academy schools. Cole Shaver, right, an eighth grader at St. Joseph, and Ethan Dougharty, a seventh grader at Holy Rosary, practice a play. Photo by Andy Telli

A dwindling number of kids interested in playing football has prompted the Nashville Diocesan Athletic Council to reconfigure its seventh and eighth grade football program.

Gone are teams attached to a specific school and a league that only includes teams from parochial schools. In their place are three teams combining players from two or more schools and a schedule that also includes games against teams from other private schools in the area.

Protecting the safety of the players was one of the big reasons for the change, said Diocesan Athletic Director Ray Grigsby. “We didn’t feel with teams (of individual schools) having (roughly) 13 players and having to put 11 on the field, that that would be good for their safety, playing the whole game without any rest,” Grigsby said.

With a minimum of 11 players needed, some schools had trouble fielding teams of at least 22 players, enough to have a full offense and defense. When teams had less than 22, some players would have to play both offense and defense, thus getting little to no rest throughout the course of the game. With some teams already being small, any injuries caused by fatigue become even more critical.

Last year, Holy Rosary Academy fielded a team with only 13 players. April Burke said her son Mason was worn out after games, and the team suffered more injuries because they had so few players. They didn’t want to let down their teammates, so “it made the kids want to come back too soon,” she said.

This year, her son and several of his classmates from Holy Rosary are playing on the Catholic East team with players from St. Joseph School, St. John Vianney School and St. Pius X Classical Academy.

“At first I was worried about it, that there might not be enough playing time for the boys,” Burke said the reconfiguration. “But it looks like it’s going to be a little more competitive, so I’m pleased.”

Although there will be fewer teams, having teams with more players should make for a better experience for the players now and if they continue to play in high school, said Brian Rector, the head coach at Father Ryan High School.

“I think the biggest thing is getting kids to play the right position,” Rector said. “There’s been a lot of kids that have been linebackers or running backs that have to play guard. And when you have kids that are playing out of position, sometimes that doesn’t invite them to continue playing at the next level. They might see that as a negative.”

“Number two is the effectiveness of what I would consider an effective practice,” Rector added. “You need numbers (for an effective practice), to be able to work linemen against linemen, like bodies against like bodies. And you need to be able to have effective scrimmage time, that means 11 on 11 with subs on both sides. So 22 people isn’t really an effective football team, but double that number is.

“So as the numbers grow,” he said. “I think you’ll see the practices get better, the organization improve, and the overall experience for the kids improve.”

The school groupings for the new configuration were based on location, especially for the purposes of coordinating practices, which will be held either at Father Ryan High School or Pope John Paul II High School, depending on team location.

The West team will comprise students from St. Henry and St. Matthew; the East team will be include St. Joseph, St. John Vianney, St. Pius X and Holy Rosary Academy; and the Central team will include Christ the King, Overbrook, St. Ann, St. Bernard, and St. Edward. Children in parish religious education classes are also eligible to play on the teams.

Each of the parochial teams will play its two counterparts once during the season, in addition to playing against other private schools in the area. The schedule features Montgomery Bell Academy (seventh grade), Donelson Christian Academy, Franklin Road Academy, Nashville Christian School, Battle Ground Academy, Harding Academy, and Lipscomb Academy. These games will take place at Father Ryan, Pope John Paul II, or the respective (non-parochial) school’s home field.

“Our schools have been playing some of these schools in the past, so the level of competition has always been good,” Grigsby said. “However, the difference is that our teams now have enough players to compete.”

In the weekends before and after fall break, the parochial teams will meet in a season-ending playoff to determine the parochial champion.

While the reconfiguration will surely be a change for larger schools like St. Henry, which has always been able to field a team with players from its own school, some of the smaller schools have long been combining efforts.

St. Joseph, which finished as the league runner-up last year to Christ the King, was already made up of players from St. Joseph, St. John Vianney and St. Pius before adding eight players from Holy Rosary this year. Last year, St. Joseph had 26 players and Catholic East will have 24 this year.

“This is a good number,” said Assistant Coach Lane Shaver. “We can work everyone in.”

“When you merge with another school, the biggest change is in the logistics – payments, decision-making, scheduling, uniforms – and attitude,” St. Henry Athletic Director Tommy Hagey said. “We (St. Henry) have never had to merge our team with anyone before. Emotionally it may not be easy for some. All schools have school pride and that’s not a bad thing. …

“With all that said,” Hagey continued, “we are bringing together two Catholic schools with one faith, one mission, one ministry. Football – as are all other parochial sports – is just one of the tools our schools have to enrich the lives of our students, to help them grow as young men and women and in their faith.”

The Diocesan Athletic Council’s decision will also have an effect – though indirect and not immediate – on the high schools that these players will eventually attend, especially Father Ryan and Pope John Paul II.

“If it’s what’s best for parochial football, I think I’m impartial to (the decision),” said Pope John Paul II head football coach Justin Geisinger. “Our job is to be there and support them and be a resource for them to lean on when they need it, that’s really how we see ourselves (as a high school).”

“The only difference is in the number of teams, really,” Geisinger added. “We still see (being a resource) as our mission. That hasn’t changed, and however we’re going to support all the teams has not changed. We’re in it for parochial football, for these kids, and obviously for them to build the best foundation they can to grow through our programs down the line.”

“We are all part of a Catholic community,” Hagey said. “Playing football with another Catholic school is not a negative thing. It prepares these kids for their high school years when they are, for the most part, all brought together as one team either at JPII or Father Ryan where their Catholic football experience will continue. It is a way to preserve the parochial experience and continue under (Diocesan Athletic Council) supervision while bringing players together from different parochial schools.”

“The main concern of the DAC is always to do whatever is best for our students,” Grigsby said. “After two years of discussion, the DAC felt combining teams was best for our football program.”